The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-11-26
FLAVORING MEATS.


Breeders OF Poultry.
Much has been said, both in sarcasm
and in truth, about acquired flavor in
the meats and products Of various
fowls and other animals. There are
some people who scout the idea of the
meat of animals being in any way in
fuenced by any substance on which
they feed There is larger class who
ridicule the idea that the milk of a
COW, or the eggs of a hen, can in any
way be affected by the food upon which
they subsist And yet it is an incon-
trovertable fact that to certain ex-
tent, the meat of all animal life owes
its specific flavor to the food substance
assimilated, and that the products of
animals, such as milk. eggs, honey,
ETC., are more or less affected in flavor
by the food products assimilated by
them.
We know that the flavor of meat is
much affected by certain substances. !
remember while serving in the army,
that the beef cattle having had access
to the garlic which grows so plentifully
in some of the Southern States, their
flesh was so much tainted with the
strong garlic" or ''onion'' flavor,
that even the hungry soldier, whose
lips had not enclosed a piece of animal
flesh for weeks. would reject the garlic
favored meat, no matter how tempting
it might seem to the hungry palate.
We also know that the fine flavor OF
canvas-back ducks is due mainly to the
wild celery which they eat. So the
Western grouse is indebted to the wild
sage bush of the West for its fine
aromatic flavor; the wild ducks of our
interior rivers, which live mainly on
fish, are favored in flesh something
like the fnny tribes which roam in the
fresh waters Of our streams. W
Milk and eggs. we find affected in
the same way. The milk of cow fed
ON tprnips or any strong favored vege-
| table, will be tainted with the odor of
| the same, and even the butter produc-
ed from this milk partakes more orless
| of its flavor. have known families
where the meat, the milk and the but
ter from cows thus fed. were at once
rejected on account of the unmistak-
| able odor attached to them.
The flavor Of the meat Of the domes.
tic fowl partakes to great extent of
the character of the food which has
been provided. And it is quite a, usual
requirement among connoiseurs Of fine
poultry, to demand "corn-fed" chicks,
or "grain-fed FOWLS" poultry left to
themselves to hunt living. are apt to
appropriate all kinds Of insects, and
often filthy substances, for their susie
nance. We we'll know with what avid
ity they seize angle-worms, bugs, flies
and all sorts of insects. But if contin-
ed and properly fed on grain and
vegetables their flesh will not only be
rich, but we'll favored and suitable for
the most critical epicure. And if the
milk Of COW reveals in its odor the
character of her food, so in like man.
ner the meat and the eggs of the fowl
will partake to large extent of the
flavor Of tho food upon winch she sub
sisted.
In this connection / am willing to
affirm that the system OF feeding has
much to do. not only with the flavor,
but with tho color of the eggs. l think,
other matters being we'll considered,
that corn-fed hen will, as a general
rule, deposit eggs with golden yellow
shells. and peculiarly rich in all the
demands of perfect egg. At the
same time it will be noticed that the
hen which subsists on .'hit and miss
provisions will some times lay a vel.
low, but most often a white egg.
can not but conclude that the color Of
the shell of the egg is an index Of it.
richness and strength. In great pro
portion, therefore. is the flesh Of the
chicken affected by the. food with
, which it is provided. 81
Therefore would say, for tn,
, production of good. wholesome flesh
,, feed your chickens plenty Of rich
, yellow corn--not the shriveled whit.
|, grains of the Southern and Southwest
! ern variety-but the bright yellow corn
. such as the eight-rowcd yellow, Oh
, Longfellow. This, mixed with abou
, one-fourth as much wheat, forms
most excellent diet, both for flesh ant
egg production. II this diet is liber
ally followed out the egg basket viii
! not only be kept we'll supplied witt
beautiful yellow eggs. but the skin ant
: meat OF the chicks and fowls will be O
: bright golden or white appearance
~ C.. Harris, IN Ohio Former.